We head into an auspicious span of days for word-lovers.
Boston Book Festival
This Saturday, October 16, is the Boston Book Festival. If world-class writers were muscles, this event would be bursting out of its sleeves. Elizabeth Alexander, Bill Bryson, Atul Gawande, Allegra Goodman, Jennifer Haigh, A.M. Homes, Dennis Lehane, and Joyce Carol Oates are joined by dozens of other eminent wordsmiths. Also taking part in diverse and highly entertaining ways are some of the artists who have received Massachusetts artist fellowships over the years: Steve Almond (’08), Gish Jen (’87), Tom Perrotta (’98), Henriette Lazaridis Power (’06), and Kevin Young (’10).
Speaking of Tom Perrotta, his The Smile on Happy Chang’s Face was selected to be the inaugural story in the One City One Story project. The initiative encourages people in and around Boston to read the same short story and create community around the shared reading experience, and a digital version of the story is available for download.
The Boston Book Festival is free, with events, readings, workshops, booksellers, and more at Copley Square in Boston, all day Saturday.
Four Stories
On Monday, October 18, 2010, you can zip over to The Enormous Room in Cambridge for Four Stories: “One evening, four urban narratives.” The ongoing series folds literature and nightlife into one uber-cool origami swan, and Monday’s event looks like a lively one. Its theme is “‘Til Death Do Us Part: Tales of love and expiration,” and it features readings by radio host Alex Bernstein, storyteller Dave Dickerson, journalist Daniel Gewert, and writer Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich (who recently brandished her wit in an ArtSake nano-interview). The event runs 7-9 PM and is free and open to the public.
National Day on Writing
Then, on Wednesday, October 20, 2010, it’s time to throw the act of writing a big party. Preferably by doing some writing. It’s National Day on Writing, established by The National Council of Teachers of English to acknowledge and celebrate the integral nature of writing.
You, as an individual writer and/or interested person of the world, are encouraged to visit Mass Humanities to learn about ways to get involved. At the very least, you can use the occasion as an excuse to ditch other non-essential plans and spend the day writing (does your foyer really need remodeling when there’s a Great American Novel/Poem/Blog Post awaiting your pen?)
Check other ideas about how to get involved, and keep writing.
Images: Kevin Young; cover art for The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing, edited by Kevin Young (Bloomsbury, 2010); Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich, photo by Caleb Cole.
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